총 40페이지

Reportage
with actual disabilities. Through this
juice on the menu like she always did,
program, I gained more understanding
but there was no juice. Hearing her
about people with disabilities. However,
request, the owner of the restaurant ran
there were a lot of incidents related
out of the restaurant to get the apple
to misunderstandings by some of the
juice.Aftergettingit,thecoachtoldthe
volunteers. For example, there was a
participant about the effort the owner
womanwhohadnotrecognizedtheright
made. Feeling sorry for the owner, she
way to treat people with disabilities. We
doesn’t look for apple juice any more.”
should wait for them until they need us
Like this, the reason for participating in
butthewomandidn’tdothat.Duetothe
the Special Olympics is not just getting
focused not on how well the contestants
tightschedule,sheforcedaparticipantto
results in sports. For the coaches and
did, but on how much each tried to do
movetooquicklyandtheparticipantjust
people related to the participants, it is
their best. Also, the volunteers were
freaked out. Whenever I heard this kind
an opportunity to help the participants
busy encouraging and cheering the
of news, I was disgusted. They are just
feel like regular people. And for the
participants. Watching the game, Kim
slow, that’s all. Like the rest of us, they
volunteers, it is an opportunity to show
said, “They all have disabilities, but
do Facebook to contact their friends,
the caring side of Korea to all these
they’re good at sports.” The participants
coaches, and volunteer workers. These
specialparticipants.
showed unbelievable skills. “The team
people live their lives the same way as
“Because it was an international event,
from Iceland practiced for at least seven
everybodyelsedoes.”
promoting the event was important.
years.” Kim, who spent the last twenty-
As a DAL member, she directly
It took a lot more time in preparing
fourhourswiththeskatersfromIceland
took care of the participating athletes.
the Games compared to the caring
told some amazing stories about them.
Not only with translation, but with
for participants. I feel sorry for the
“There were skaters from Jamaica who
introductions and watching cultural
public’s low interest and social support
had only two weeks of practicing. They
events together, as a sightseeing guide,
concerning these disabled participants
had no place to skate in their country,
with the proceedings of the Games,
overall. It could have been a great
sotheytrainedintheUSA.”Intellectual
helping with shopping, and other tasks.
opportunity for everybody and not just
abilities and environmental obstacles
Moreover, the DAL members were on
for those with disabilities. I wish there
werenoproblemforthem.
call for the participants day and night
would be more support and an increase
in case of emergencies. They provided
in the understanding of the daily life of
“Come, I want you to meet our
cultureandtheaffectionofKoreaaspart
peoplewithdisabilities,”Kimremarked.
team.” She drove me to the restroom,
of their cultural mission. “A member
Beyond interpretation work, volunteers
and we could find the participants
of the Iceland team drank apple juice
for the Special Olympics, especially
brushing their teeth. “Hey, did you
only instead of water. One day at a
the DAL members, were thought of as
brush your teeth the way you learned
Korean restaurant, she found an apple
friends and family by the participants.
yesterday?” Kim asked. “Sure did,”
Based on true comprehension of
said the participants. It was just a
each other, both the volunteers and
conversation, nothing special, but it
the participants made the Special
shows many things. There was really
Olympics a place for harmony in spite
no difference between the participants
of institutional inertia. Along with our
with disabilities and everybody else.
HUFSan who was a part of DAL, we
Kim who watched everything about
hope social recognition about disabled
the sport was not being just a helper to
people expands and it will help break
them, but a friend. “It was not easy for
theglassceilingforthem.
metodothis.ButasIwastrainedatthe
culture-experienceprogram,HostTown,
before the event, I learned a lot about
how to treat people including handling
mmkkoo12@hufs.ac.kr
misunderstandings, prejudice about
intellectual disabilities, and learning
the right ways to treat people living
25
MARCH 2013

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